Canopic jar

A canopic jar is an earthenware urn with a lid in the shape of a face. In the 19th century they were called ‘canopic jars’ because of their similarity to Egyptian vases featuring a lid in the shape of a human or animal head. They were intended to contain the entrails of a deceased person about to bemummified. However, this Etruscan canopic jar had a different function: it is a cremation urn, buried deep underground in a burial pit.
These cinerary urns are to be found in the environs of Chiusi, south-west of Lake Trasimene. They come in different styles. The earliest urns (620-625/600 B.C.) are called the nap type. They have a flat lid featuring a schematic rendering of a face. This was followed by the mask type, the cubic type (a square head with almond shaped eyes) and the plastic type, which we see here.
We see the features of a stern-looking man. In the top of his head there is a firehole enabling the air to escape during firing. Out of this ‘crown’ the hair comes down in woolly curls. The pupils have been done in such a way that the face has a fixed look. Two arms are stuck through the wide handles. The Etruscans considered the head to be the most important,most individual element of the body. This was the beginning of the development of the portrait.